Can we talk about Nailtini for a minute?

Hi!

I received my May Ipsy bag recently which contained Nailtini Nail Polish in the color Bloody Mary.

Generally retailing around $12, this isn't a polish that I would normally pick up nowadays due to my unfortunate part time employment at the moment. But.. stay with me here.

This is ONE COAT with NO top coat! I couldn't believe it. It completely covers everything, applied really well, was basically streak free and shined like crazy! 

I decided to pop China Glaze - Fang-tastic on top and Seche Vite on that and voila, easy and colorful manicure!

I must try more Nailtini products in the future.

What is your favorite nail polish brand?

Thanks for reading!

I've got a bottle of nail polish and a microscope.

Hi!

Can I start by telling you.. I am so excited about this post.

About a week ago, my boyfriend purchased a microscope. Its nothing super duper fancy but its nice and its fun to have. So obviously.. we took pictures of nail polish.

First, let me show you the polish we're looking at today: Orly - Aqua Pixel

Aqua Pixel is described by Orly as an Aqua 3D Glitter with a Pixelated Finish. It is essentially a liquid sand polish that dries gritty and sandy, and it also looks gorgeous smoothed out with a top coat. This is already a complex and beautiful polish.

And here it is underneath a microscope!

So weird that it looks way more blue. But honestly, a lot of polishes didn't look like we imagined they would! Also the bottle and swatch pictures are a bit lighter than it looks in real life.

Since this was literally the first polish we looked at, the picture isn't perfect. Probably also because we took it by sticking my camera against the eyepiece like absolute noobs. However, once I can afford to I'd love to get a picture/video taking eyepiece for it so I can take way better pictures of polishes!

I'm thinking I'll make a bit of a series of this, since I think its SO FREAKING COOL.

I honestly think it looks like a blue desert. So crazy! And I've got a bunch more really cool polishes to show you in future posts!

What polish would you want to see under a microscope?

Thanks for reading!

So obsessed with rhinestones!

Hi!

Recently I've found myself wearing rhinestone nail art a lot. Its so easy to do and adds some super simple bling to some of my favorite nail colors.

This was the first manicure I did with them, and I LOVED it! I wore it for nearly a week before I decided to change my polish and the rhinestones didn't budge a bit!

The pink polish is NYC - Lincoln Square Lavender, one of my favorites!

We bought my cat nail caps recently due to us purchasing brand new furniture. He's not a scratcher but we did notice a tiny mark or two just from him jumping off of it, so caps were the solution. I picked blue out so it'd be easy to see if one falls off, and I decided to match with him!

I went for the simple one rhinestone look again. The polish is BP by Nordstrom.. not sure of the name, honestly. It isn't listed on the bottle! Boo..

I'm waiting for some more rhinestones and other nail art things to arrive in the mail, once I have those I've got some more manis in mind!

Are you obsessed with rhinestones like I am?

Also, you may have noticed the change in name! I have moved over from nailsss.blogspot.com to nailesque.blogspot.com . In the future I plan to move to my own domain, but not right away. I'm still making plans. (Also, if you have advice, lay it on me.. lol)

Hopefully you like the changes and, as always..

Thanks for reading!

Jazzy Jubilant <3

Hi! 

Today I have another quick mani showcasing a polish I received as a gift!

Polishes used:

NYC - Sidewalkers

Essie - Jazzy Jubilant

Also bonus model Flapjack. 

Thanks for reading!

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Color Club Swatches!

Hi!

This last Christmas (2012) my boyfriend was a genius and put a bunch of Color Club nail polish minis in my stocking! I have tried one or two of them but its October now and I wanted to swatch them finally! I also think the colors he picked are pretty great for the upcoming Fall season as well.

This is my first "swatch" post and my pictures aren't perfect - fair warning ;)

Top pictures are without flash, bottom pictures are with flash.

 

Dreamin is a pretty medium pink. I really like the color, but it was both a little bit thick and a little bit sheer, which made it a bit difficult to apply.

Shown is 3 coats of Dreamin.

 

Strawberry Sharbet is a super sparkley pink glitter. I was so excited about this one but was sorely disappointed! I don't know if its just my bottle or what, but this polish was SO thick, it was nearly impossible to apply. I want to try it again with some thinner in it. You can really see on my pointer finger how difficult it was to apply evenly! However,  it is totally wearable by itself and is nice and opaque for a glitter. Anyone else have this problem with this polish?

Shown is 2 coats of Strawberry Sharbet.

 

Flair is a pretty tomato red. This polish applied much better than the first two! What a relief. Also, if you look at the flash its got a gorgeous orange sheen to it! A really nice polish.

Shown is 2 coats of Flair.

Black-ish is a GORGEOUS bronze-purple-red-brown color. This is perfect for fall, and is my favorite of the bunch. This applies smoothly and is very opaque. You really only need 2 coats of this. I will probably repurchase this in the future in full size!

Shown is 3 coats of Black-ish.

 

First of all, I am 99% sure this is Blue-Topia, but the label on the bottom was gone before I even got it for Christmas, waaaah! I wish they didn't put their labels on the bottom. This is a dark navy jelly and is honestly very pretty, but I'm not crazy about it. It applies nicely, but its so dark it looks like black most of the time. If it were a shade lighter I'd be absolutely nuts about it! Also, this stains like crazy, be careful!

Shown is 3 coats of Blue-Topia.

These colors are all super unique in my collection, none of them are like anything I have. I might have to try some nail polish thinner on Strawberry Sharbet, but for the fall these will be great to have.

Thanks for reading!

Emerald Shimmer!

Hi!

Today I have a surprising combination for you - at least in my opinion, I didn't expect these two polishes to look so freaking gorgeous together.

And it was even prettier in person!!

I couldn't stop looking at my nails while I wore this. This is a greenish Pure Ice layering polish over a navy Color Club polish. Who thought greenish + navy = gorgeous emerald?

I want to wear this one again. The navy polish (in my opinion) is just way too dark on its own, too near to black. However, I just want to layer everything over it now!

Products Used:

Base Coat - Seche Vite Ridge Filling Base Coat

Color Club - Blue Topia

Pure Ice - Heartbreaker

Top Coat - NYC Grand Central Station

By the way.. I've swatched all the Color Clubs that I have (5 of them) so keep an eye open this week (probably next Sunday) for those.

Thanks for reading!

Tiffany Blue Sparkle Gradient

Hi!

I was in a glittery mood, and then this happened..

I'm kinda obsessed with both of these polishes, and wanted to attempt a gradient glitter effect instead of just glitter everywhere. I did 3 layers of the glitter, and made it get denser and denser as it got closer to the cuticle. I love this so much! I want to do this sort of thing again but with a super tiny and opaque glitter instead of a chunkier one like this.

Products used:

Base Coat - Sally Hansen Nail Protex Vitamin-Fortified Strengthener

L'Oreal - Not A Cloud In Sight

Pure Ice - Over You

Top Coat - NYC Grand Central Station

Thanks for reading!

P.S. Have fun with iOS7 today, iPhone users! I'm super excited.

Simple Tape "French" Manicure and Planning Ahead

Hi!

I quickly wanted to mention that I want to start a "schedule" to my posts - this is barely a real schedule, but heres what I have in mind:

- I will post at the very minimum one post on Sunday. I have been busier due to my job and Sundays are a good day for me to post and do blog related things.. so this seems like a good fit! These posts will almost always be nail related.

- I will try to do an additional post at some point during the week. I have a sort of regular schedule but sometimes I will have Tuesday off, sometimes it will be Friday, etc. Depending on my life goings on, I will do my best to do an additional post then. Plenty of these will be nail related, but this is when I'm more likely to do a makeup/off topic sort of post.

Thats out the way, now for what you came here for!

This is a simple french manicure using scotch tape to get crisp, defined lines. I always jump at pinks and purples, so I wanted to throw some lesser used colors in! Really easy manicure to do, very cool effect! 

Products used:

Base Coat: Sally Hansen Nail Protex Vitamin-Fortified Strengthener

E.L.F. - Nude

NYC - High Line Green

China Glaze - Shower Together

Top Coat: NYC Grand Central Station

Thanks for reading!

The simplest dotted manicure ever!

Hi!

So sorry that I haven't posted this week - I just started a new job and not only have I been busy, but I've been exhausted! Also, fair warning - this manicure was done and photographed during this tiring week, so the pictures aren't fantastic. Anyway, enough disclaimers!

I started with a base of Sally Hansen - Mint Sorbet (#340). This is my first true mint color - I have a few that come close, but are really more regular greens and teals. This one is a real subtle mint pastel. It looks a little lighter in person, and these pictures were also taken at night. I took these in case it chipped before I got a chance to take daylight pictures, and boy did it chip! Don't worry though, this was due to working, not due to bad polish.

Next I created dots with Color Club - Dreamin'. This is a pretty warm pink color. Over the Mint Sorbet, it looked a bit orangey. I made the dots with a pin, since I lost my dotting tool a few moves ago. I really should grab a new one.

I thought this looked cool, and then my boyfriend commented that it "looks like fungus in a good way". I decided today was just not the week for color choices, I guess.

Thanks for reading!

Pure Ice - Over You

Hi!

I recently saw this polish at Walmart and I couldn't help but pick it up. Over You by Pure Ice is a gorgeous and unique polish - a purple shimmer with light blue/teal glitter. Some of the teal is bar glitter. If you haven't tried Pure Ice polishes I beg you - stop by your local Walmart and give it a go. These polishes have good formulas, unique colors, and they only cost about $2 a pop!!

This is one coat on top of Ulta - Tutu Cute. 

Also, I've read that there are two different "Over You"s, one is like mine, the other is a light blue micro glitter. Odd that they would name two of their polishes the same name when they are so different looking! If I ever spot "Number Two", I'll pick it up and compare them.

Thanks for reading!

B.P. by Nordstrom Blue "No Name"

Hi!

Today I wanted to show you one of my favorite blue polishes that I own. It is by B.P. by Nordstrom, a brand from their junior's department. My main issue is that while it does have a name, it is not listed on the bottle. It is one of their older style bottles so it is no longer listed on the website. If I manage to find the name I will update this post... wish me luck.

Sorry for the pre-cleanup, I had worn it as nail art and I didn't clean up until the end.

This is a gorgeous darker blue with a sort of vinyl or matte finish. The formula is smooth and is opaque in two coats. I love B.P. nail polishes because they're good quality and full price they are $5 with free shipping. You can find them in store or at the rack too, and you might find them on sale (this was marked down to $2.49, plus I had my discount at the time). 

Thanks for reading!

No Sponge Gradient (Essie Lilacism and Essie Pop Art Pink)

Hi!

It feels like its been a week since I've posted, but its been more - sorry about that.

Today I have a simple manicure inspired by this post on the Chalkboard Nail blog that illustrates a no sponge gradient manicure! I haven't had the greatest success when trying sponge gradients, so I was super excited to give this a try!

First I applied Essie's Lilacism, a beautiful lilac/lavender color. This polish takes 3 coats for full opacity.

Next, I did 3 coats (and a little extra for touch up) of Essie's Pop Art Pink, and painted less of the nail each coat to create a gradient effect.. I hope that makes sense! I topped it off with Sally Hansen Hard As Wraps.

I love these colors together, I'd been wanting to do something interesting with them for ages. 

If you decide to try this, here are a few things to keep in mind that I learned with this manicure. Make sure you use very thin coats to make the manicure less thick. I would also recommend waiting a few minutes between coats to help with it drying. The top coat makes it look much more seamless! Once I was finished I wasn't happy with the results, but after a top coat - magic!

Unfortunately, once it fully dried, I noticed it got all bubbled up!

Its hard to see here - you can tell mostly on the middle finger, but all of my nails are pretty bubbly. Sadface!

Thanks for reading!

Milani #583 Hot Pink over some.. hot pink.

Hi!

I felt like being bright and girly with this manicure. I started with Pure Ice - Flirt Alert. Its an opaque hot pink! I love this one.

After that dried, I did my first coat of Milani #583 Hot Pink.

This is full of hexagon glitters in pink and silver. I found that one coat wouldn't do, and it was a little bit difficult to spread out the glitter.. so for my second "coat", I put the polish on a piece of paper, and transferred the glitters with a toothpick. I topped this off with my NYC clear coat.

I love this glitter, but it is too easy to make a really thick, globby coat of it. Probably will stick to applying the glitters manually in the future!

Thanks for reading!

NYC #145 Rock the Party! Interesting color..

Hi!

I recently picked up a new polish at Target (its so hard not to look!) and wanted to show you - NYC #145 Rock the Party!

It is an interesting polish, for sure. It is SUPER translucent - I don't think you'd be able to build a full coverage of it by itself even after layers and layers of it. In the bottle it shines in dark purples and greens, and in my opinion it has a sort of pearly finish.

I decided to try it over one coat of NYC #264 Lincoln Square Lavender. Here it is by itself...

I absolutely LOVE this color! It is a tad bit more purple in person. It reminds me of Essie's Splash of Grenadine from their 2010 collection (which I have). Maybe I'll compare the two sometime for you guys.

I topped it off with NYC Grand Central Station as a top coat (NYC day, anyone?) With only one coat of Rock the Party, it appears much more purple but with two it is much easier to see the different shades in the polish. I want to try this another time over a green or blue color.

Thanks for reading!

Creeper nails

I haven't blogged on here.. in so. long.

I am such an on and off person with stuff like this.. but I'd love to change that.

Lets get straight to the point, shall we?

I decided the other day to do creeper nails. If you don't play Minecraft, here is a couple reference pictures for you:

This bad boy likes to sneak up behind you in game and blow up! Certainly not fun. But makes for an interesting idea for nail art, I suppose.

I didn't have proper tools handy, unfortunately, so the black part of the nail is done with a toothpick. Not bad, considering.

I can't decide what I should do next. I've been stuck and just painting my nails plain colors (not that that is a BAD thing.. but I love my nail art). Hopefully I'll figure it out soon.

Until next time..

New Camera! Ultra Pro - Solar Flare, OPI - Black Shatter

I have an actual camera now!

This is Ultra Pro in Solar Flare.. my boyfriend told me to pick 2 polishes (it was buy 2 get 1 free at Sally's) as a present, and he would pick the third.. and this was his pick.

It looks greenish for some reason.. but it's highlighter yellow.

It is super bright.. and quite thin and easy to apply, although it needs many coats.. this is 3 coats of it.

My nails are terrible (still) from the acrylics from months ago.. so that probably didn't help.

So I decided to put some OPI Black Shatter over it.. much better. It's actually a really great color with the shatter! Not only is it bright and shows through super well, but it is a smooth polish when it dries, so it crackles really well.

A top coat of Out The Door and it's all set. (:

Thanks for reading.

I'm bad at posting often!

So, I had gotten myself a notebook to organize future blogposts and ideas to blog about, so it would be easier and I wouldn't put it off or not have material.

And.. I lost it. And I got so mad for losing it that I didn't post!.. I'm really stubborn.

Anyway, to the important stuff!

This is Pure Ice - Mint Dream. In the bottle, it looks like a white color with a green shine.. I couldn't resist.

I tried a little on.. and was surprised it was so sheer! But I probably shouldn't have. It's a GREAT layering color! I decided to try it with Pure Ice - Wild Thing

With only Wild Thing

And with Mint Dream on top..

It's hard to see, but basically it makes it a two-toned green with a very green shine! It's green all over the place, and its very cool. I'm excited to experiment with this color.

To try to show the shine better, I made a short video.

Can you see it better in the video?

Sorry for any background noise, theres music playing.. heh.

Thanks for reading (: